The heavy door seemed to be locked in another world, with dim lights and soft music. Under the purple-blue neon lights, a man with a dirty heart shook the cocktail shaker and poured the amber liquid into the glass.
"Don't just chat, let's drink. Come on, let's have a drink together."
The prince raised his glass and spoke to everyone, but he was glancing at the girl beside him.
"Oh, by the way, let me introduce you." The prince placed his hand gently on the girl's shoulder.
"This is our company's new office clerk Tang Xiaowan, and that director... Yes, Director You, the nature of your work is the same."
The prince pushed the girl and said, "You should learn more from Director You in the future. Look how tactful and good at serving the bureau he was just now."
"Pah!" The cup fell to the ground with a light sound.
The noise was not loud, but it made the air in the room freeze for a moment.
Fan Xiao slowly leaned into the large sofa, crossed his long legs, and looked at the prince with a pair of smiling eyes.
The music is flowing slowly, and there is only music.
Fan Xiao has many kinds of smiles, and this kind is something You Shulang has never seen before.
He looked lazy and nonchalant, but no one could ignore the sudden sense of oppression that came over him.
The prince had been accustomed to being flattered over the years, and now he looked a little unhappy. However, he became friends with Fan Xiao for business reasons, so he could only force a smile and apologize to You Shulang.
"Look at what I said, Director You, please don't mind it."
You Shulang didn't expect Fan Xiao to be so rude to him. He would be lying if he said he was uncomfortable. He glanced at Fan Xiao, and the gratitude in his eyes was self-evident.
Forced into the storm, he relaxed his brows and smiled lightly, withdrew his gaze from Fan Xiao, and said lightly as if nothing had happened: "In fact, what Vice President Xue said is right. The primary purpose of office work is to provide services. You have to know clearly what to do in what occasion."
His words were neither humble nor arrogant, and his expressions were sincere, which helped the prince regain some face and look a little better.
You Shulang's eyes moved to the side and landed on the girl, and continued, "Xiao Wan, huh? Since your boss asked me to give you some pointers, I'll be generous and teach you today."
He stood up slowly, walked to the girl and sat down, found an empty cup on the table, unscrewed the bottle of mineral water and filled it halfway.
"To provide good service you must first stay sober. If you are drunk, who will take care of your boss?"
The man pushed the water cup to the girl's hand, and the corners of his thin lips slightly raised: "The first rule for office staff to participate in banquets is not to hold the cup if you can't drink."
The girl's eyes were filled with gratitude. You Shulang glanced at the prince and saw that he looked unhappy.
"But our Xiaowan can drink a lot. She can accompany the brothers and take good care of me as the boss." The prince patted the girl's shoulder, leaned forward and looked at her, and said with a cool breeze, "Isn't it Xiaowan?"
The girl's body became even stiffer. She twisted her hands and hesitated for a long time before she nodded slightly under the prince's almost intimidating gaze.
"Well, that's it." The man pushed the cup of water in front of the girl along the glass table top. It slid a long way. The water surface shook and half of the water spilled.
"Come on, let's drink!"
When the prince raised his glass, Fan Xiao kept glancing at You Shulang. To be more precise, his eyes never left him from beginning to end.
Director You's face was calm at this moment, and he still looked calm and composed. But he reached for the cigarette, lowered his eyes and put it in his mouth, but did not light it.
The voice of the cigarette was still clear, and Fan Xiao heard him say: "What's the point of just drinking?"
Raising his eyes, he smiled: "Let's play cards? Whoever loses drinks."
"Okay." Fan Xiao was the first to respond with a long voice.
Shi Lihua, who had been watching the show, was stunned for a moment, and then he also shouted: "Play cards, play cards, we should have played cards a long time ago."
The prince looked at the dark face of the wine glass that the girl put down again, gnashed his teeth and said, "Okay, what are we going to play? How are we going to drink?"
"How about poker?" You Shulang touched the lighter and turned his head to light a cigarette, his bony fingers playing with the golden relief lighter. After receiving approval, he put the lighter back into his pocket, took out the cigarette and held it between his fingers, and took the poker from the game basket.
It was not until he saw You Shulang shuffling the cards smoothly that Fan Xiao was sure that he really knew how to play cards. His slender fingers were made even whiter by the black tabletop. After shuffling the cards three times, You Shulang cut the cards up and down with one hand, glanced at everyone, and asked calmly, "Who's playing?"
The most external thing in the world of fame and fortune is status. In the private room, apart from Fan Xiao, Shi Lihua and the prince, no one else was trying to get ahead. You Shulang understood and sent the cards to the three people one by one, asking them to cut the cards.
"Play small bowl too." The prince cut the cards and casually sent out a bomb.
The hand holding the cards paused slightly, You Shulang raised his eyes to glance at the girl and asked, "Do you know how to play?"
The girl nodded: "Vice President Xue taught me."
You Shulang said nothing, cleared the table and started dealing cards. Only Fan Xiao saw a circle of marks on the cigarette butt in his mouth...
Shi Lihua swallowed four small glasses of rum one by one under the jeers of the crowd. He loved the softness and sweetness of rum, but the aftereffect of this drink was not small, and now he was already drunk.
"Damn, why do I always lose?" He finished the last glass, put the glass heavily on the table, and calculated, "Fan Xiao drank 4, Director You drank 2, how many did you drink, Old Xue?"
The prince, with his hands spread wide on the back of the sofa, snorted, "It doesn't matter how much I drink, what matters is that none of our small bowls were drunk."
On the exquisite wooden stand next to the girl were eight small cups of brown turbid soup, which were the wine that had just been added with ingredients.
"People trained by Vice President Xue naturally have good skills and good luck." You Shulang complimented at the right time.
"Let me deal the cards," the prince said, stretching out his hand with his shoulders relaxed. "How dare I trouble Director You all the time?"
Just as You Shulang was about to refuse, someone beside the prince handed him a new deck of cards. The man took it, shuffled and cut the cards, and then glanced at You Shulang meaningfully before he began to deal the cards.
After one round, the girl lost.
The prince touched the diamond earring on his left ear and sighed, but his eyes glanced at the girl's towering breasts.
The girl raised the glass and put it to her lips.
The prince raised his eyebrows, the green-haired girl whistled, Shi Lihua looked around, and Fan Xiao looked at You Shulang.
Taking a deep breath, the girl slowly raised her wrist...
"Wait." The girl was stopped, and the one who spoke was the elegant man next to her.
"How can you let a girl drink alone?" You Shulang smiled and picked up his own wine, tapping it lightly on the girl's glass, "I'll accompany you."
"Oh, right." The man's eyes suddenly darkened, with a clear smile on his lips and a radiant light in his pupils, which was even deeper than usual. "If someone is drunk and wants to drink a cup of wine with you during the banquet, what should you do as a receptionist?"
The girl was at a loss for words, and everyone was even more confused. In a flash, they heard You Shulang gently say, "Just think of me as a good teacher. I will teach you today."
He took the wine glass from the girl's hand and put it in the wooden rack, then exchanged the girl's wooden rack with his own.
A glass of wine that originally belonged to the girl was now in You Shulang's hand: "You can say that it is inconvenient to drink wine from each other's cups, but we can exchange wine. This will not affect work, and will not offend the guests. Generally, men with good character will not make excessive demands."
"Remember?" You Shulang clinked glasses with the girl again, the gleam in his eyes cutting through the filth in the room.
Fan Xiao flattened the corners of his mouth, took out a match from his pocket, pinched a corner with two fingers, and kept flipping it.
Shi Lihua, who had been making a lot of noise, now quieted down. He looked at You Shulang in disbelief, and when he saw Fan Xiao turning the matchbox over and over in his hands, he showed an even more surprised expression.
Fan Xiao was upset? Fan Xiao was upset about his own "fun"?
Before he could think about it, You Shulang accidentally slipped and knocked over a glass of wine. The aroma of wine filled the air, and the brown wine splashed onto the white shirt and quickly seeped into the fabric.
The man brushed his clothes with his hand and said shyly, "I'm sorry."
He took another cup, and before he put it to his lips, he heard the prince's cold voice: "Director You, don't spill it again this time."
Her thick eyelashes twitched twice, and You Shulang slowly curled his lips, a smile spreading out. The dark room seemed to be filled with a halo of pearls and brilliant glass.
He swallowed the wine swiftly with a flip of his hand. When You Shulang's Adam's apple moved, Shi Lihua heard the sound of the matchbox in Fan Xiao's hand being crushed.
You Shulang drank four cups in total. After finishing the last cup, he put the cup down lightly, stood up calmly, and said with a smile that he was going to the bathroom as usual.
The prince's eyes at this moment were filled with admiration. He smiled and raised his hand to see him off respectfully: "Go quickly."
Unhurriedly, steadily and calmly, he opened the heavy door with his strong arms. Only when the door slowly closed did You Shulang's eyes turn cold and he strode towards the bathroom...
The toilet button was pressed by slender fingers, and the sound of flushing was heard. You Shulang slowly stood up and took a few tissues to wipe the corners of his mouth.
I pushed open the door of the cubicle and looked up to see Fan Xiao leaning on the sink smoking.
"Drunk?" He put down his cigarette and handed me a bottle of water.
"Yeah." You Shulang walked over and took it, then rinsed his mouth and washed his face at the sink.
Straightening up, he threw the tissue he used to wipe his face into the trash can: "Tonight... I feel a little uncomfortable, so I'll leave first." He smiled again, "Have fun, you guys."
Fan Xiao put out the cigarette he had just lit: "I'll take you there."
"Need not."
"Let's go." The man walked in front of You Shulang, leaving only his tall back behind him.
Hot. Very hot.
A fire started rising in my body.
His breathing became heavier and heavier, and You Shulang fell into the abyss of desire next to the man he had just known for less than half a year...